The South Downs really typifies the rolling, 'green and pleasant lands' of England. But few places boast such a prime spot as Gallops Farm. Walk a mile and a half south and you hit Cissbury Ring, a National Trust-owned hilltop that's home to Bronze-Age burial mounds. Walk two miles north and it's Chanctonbury Ring, another Bronze-Age barrow with far-reaching views all the way to the English Channel that sparkles in the distance. People drive for hours to walk this prized section of the South Downs Way. At Gallops Farm, it's all on your doorstep.
Nestled in the east of the national park, just north of the village of Findon, Gallops is a family run farm in its third generation, home to a hundred head of cattle, as well as a couple of holiday cottages near the farm yard and, beside the campsite, a shepherd's hut kitted out with a double bed, an en-suite bathroom and with a bubbling hot tub outside. It's in a meadow beside the farm, meanwhile, that the camping pitches are found. It's no frills camping here. There are a couple of gas-powered showers, groups of porta-loo-style toilets and standing water taps for doing your washing up. It's the simple space of the place and its prized location that make it such a winning site.
Gallops Farm is a member of the Arun-to-Adur Farmer’s Group, combining 28 farm holdings and covering over 22,000 acres of the South Downs between the two river valleys. The idea is that the farms, the National Trust and local nature trusts all worth together to deliver conservation benefits to the landscape. At Gallops that means plots planted with special seed mix providing food for wild birds, including grey partridge, lapwing and corn bunting, as well as fostering the right miniature mammals that provide for barn owls too. The result is a little haven for wildlife and quiet campers may well have the chance to spot deer and hares as well as the many birds.
It's a five minute stroll from the campsite before you join the nearest bit of the South Downs Way and a 15-minute walk into the village of Findon, where there are a couple of good pubs, a butchers and a post office. Worthing Pier and the south coast, meanwhile, is all of about 20 minutes by car. The real hardship here is choosing where to head first. Maybe back up to the top of Cissbury Hill, where you can look over it all, survey your surroundings and make your plan for the day?
A 15-minute drive will take you to St Mary’s House in the picturesque and award-winning downland village of Bramber. The historic 15th-century timber-framed house has magnificent gardens and charming cottage-style tea rooms for post walk refreshments. Gallops Farm is also 20 minutes away from Ferring beach, a pebble beach that exposes sand and rock pools at low tide. Ferring also has a lovely beach café called the Bluebird serving superb breakfasts, lunch and takeaway fish and chips. If you’re willing to travel a little further, 17th-century Petworth Park and House is 30 minutes, filled with an international art and sculpture collection and surrounded by 700-acres of deer-dotted parkland. Tilgate Nature Centre is another great option for a fun day out, 35 minutes from Gallops – the expanse of lakes, lawns and gardens contains a maze as well as a Nature Centre housing otter, owls, parrots and more.
You can walk to the Gun Inn (01903 872235) and the Village House (019038 73350) both in the village of Findon, about 15–20 minutes' stroll away and with plenty of olde world charm (both are dog friendly and have beer gardens). If you're looking for local produce to cook yourself, The Village Larder (01903 891744) based at the local Garden Centre in Washington (a 10-minute drive away) has everything from fruit and veg to cheese and chutneys, as well as meat from Hutchings, the local butchers.
